JD Sports Fashion PLC on Tuesday said it has proposed to buy Groupe Courir SAS, a France-based footwear and apparel retailer with 313 stores across six European countries.
JD Sports, a Lancashire-based sportswear retailer, said it is in exclusive talks to buy Courir for an enterprise value of €520 million, including €195 million in assumed net debt. It expects the transaction to close in the second half of 2023.
Courir is majority owned by private equity firm Equistone Partners Europe, which bought Courir in 2018, carved out from Group Go Sport.
JD added that the transaction will need to be notified to the European Commission in accordance with EU law and is conditional on merger control approval.
Out of 313 Courir stores, 191 are in France, with 24 in Spain and 22 in Belgium. The company in 2022 recorded a pretax profit of €47.4 million and revenue of €609.8 million.
JD will release its results for the financial year that ended January 28 on Wednesday next week.
JD Sports shares rose 3.5% to 167.60 pence each on Tuesday morning in London.
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